Musical Lyrics Match Trivia Quiz

Answer: Rent

Created by Jonathan Larsen in 1996, 'Rent' took its inspiration from Puccini's opera 'La Boheme'. Rather than a heroine dying from consumption (tuberculosis) many of the characters in 'Rent' are struggling with HIV or AIDS at a time when it was nearly always a death sentence.

The line quoted comes from the song 'Light My Candle'. The character Mimi (a name taken directly from Puccini) needs someone to light her candle and meets Roger (who was Rodolfo in Puccini's original work). The scene is also in the opera although Larsen does spare Mimi's life in 'Rent'.

Answer: Les Miserables

'Les Miserables' was adapted from the novel of the same name and written by Victor Hugo. Originally written with French lyrics by Alain Boublil set to music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, the show received its premiere in 1980 in Paris. Herbert Kretzmer provided the English lyrics and the show has been running ever since.

The lyrics in the question come from 'Bring Him Home', a prayer set to music and sung by Jean Valjean, who is watching over Marius as he sleeps at the barricades. Valjean's plea to God to keep Marius safe, even if Valjean himself has to die in his place, is just one of the famous songs from the show.

Answer: Cats

These words are part of the lyrics from the song which is probably the best known from the musical 'Cats'. The musical was based on T S Eliot's book of poems 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats' and nearly all the songs have lyrics based on the poems from the book. 'Memory', though, is rather different with lyricist Trevor Nunn taking phrases from other Eliot poems, 'Rhapsody on a Windy Night' and 'Preludes', which is the source for the lines quoted.

The music for 'Cats' was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and the show premiered in London in 1981.

Answer: Fiddler on the Roof

Dating from 1964, the musical is set in a Jewish settlement in Russia in the early years of the twentieth century. It was created by Jerry Bock (music) and Sheldon Harnick (lyrics) based on a novel called 'Tevye and His Daughters', written by Sholem Aleichem. Tevye is a poor man with five daughters for whom he wants to arrange good marriages.

The songs from the show include 'Matchmaker, Matchmaker' and 'If I Were a Rich Man', but the lyrics are from 'Sunrise, Sunset'. The song is performed during the wedding of Tevye's oldest daughter to her childhood sweetheart, a union which needed a certain amount of devious behaviour from her father.

Answer: Evita

Based on the short life of Eva Peron, the second wife of Argentine president Juan Peron, the musical 'Evita' was created by Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) and Tim Rice (lyrics). Originally issued as an album, sales of the record encouraged the creation of a stage show which received its first performance in 1978 in the West End of London.

The songs include 'Don't Cry for Me Argentina' and 'Another Suitcase in Another Hall', but the lyrics quoted in the question come from 'Oh What a Circus'. The character of Che Guevara is commenting on the excess of grief at the death of Evita with a mixture of bemusement and admiration.

Answer: Mamma Mia!

Written by playwright Catherine Johnson, with ABBA members Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus' active involvement, the musical was created around the songs of the group ABBA. The plot follows a young woman who has discovered her father could be any one of three men with whom her mother was involved at the same time, but is more a story that allows the cast to perform many of ABBA's best known hits.

Among the musical numbers are 'Mamma Mia', 'Dancing Queen' and 'Super Trouper'. 'The Winner Takes it All' provided the lyrical hint in the question, with its lament for the end of a relationship.

Answer: West Side Story

First performed in 1958 on Broadway, 'West Side Story' has become one of the best known musicals, helped by being filmed twice, in 1961 and in 2021. Leonard Bernstein created the music while Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics. The dramatic choreography was devised by Jerome Robbins. Set in New York, the story of rival gangs of Americans (Jets) and Puerto Ricans (Sharks) and the disaster caused when an American boy and Puerto Rican girl fall in love was inspired by Shakespeare's play 'Romeo and Juliet'.

Among the famous songs from the show are 'Tonight', 'Maria' and 'Somewhere'. The lyrics quoted are from 'One Hand, One Heart' when the two lovers, Tony and Maria, pledge themselves to each other in a touching mock wedding.

Answer: The Rocky Horror Show

Created solely by Richard O'Brien, who wrote both the lyrics and music, this funny and entertaining take on horror movies was first performed in London in 1973. With characters like Dr. Frank-N-Furter, played by Tim Curry, as a version of 'Frankenstein' and Riff-Raff, played by O'Brien himself, the show soon gained a cult following. It remains popular fifty years on.

Probably the best known song in the show, 'The Time Warp' includes the lyrics quoted in the question, although maybe ' a jump to the left and then a step to the right' would be even more recognisable.

Answer: Hair

With the hardly ever used full title of 'Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical', the show was first performed on Broadway in 1968. The story is set during the height of the hippie culture and the story line involves one of the members of the 'tribe' being conscripted to fight in Vietnam. The show was revolutionary depicting the use of drugs, bad language, sex and nudity.

The lyrics quoted come from 'Good Morning Starshine' , which is sung during Act Two. The song was released as a single by the singer Oliver and became a top ten hit in both the UK and USA. Other well known songs from 'Hair' are 'Aquarius', 'Ain't Got No' and 'I Got Life'.

Answer: Phantom of the Opera

Inspired by a novel written by Gaston Leroux, Andrew Lloyd Webber created the music for the musical version of 'Phantom of the Opera' while Charles Hart provided the lyrics, with other contributions from Richard Stilgoe. The story of a young soprano at the Paris Opera House, the obsession with her of a masked man who lives under the theatre and the ensuing tragedy was first staged in London in 1986.

'The Music of the Night' and 'Angel of Music' are songs from the show, but the lyrics quoted come for 'All I Ask of You', performed by Christine and Raoul, the man who loves her.